My Thoughts on “The Dominators” – Story 044

Notice how it’s been about a week since I actually finished watching this story? Yes. I am going to claim that I took quite a while to let my thoughts on it sink in and digest properly before writing them down, as the only other option is that I’m mind-blowingly lazy.

Shall we vote on the most likely answer?

“The Dominators” commits one of the greatest sins of entertainment: it’s boring. It’s dull as dishwater, despite a few fine moments here and there. Well, provided one ignores the godawful costumes.

The cast tries mightily, and the two men playing the Dominators themselves really put forth a good effort. All the scenes with them are fairly interesting. But the Dulceans are really, well, dull, and while the fundamental plot (pacific planet being attacked by aliens), is decent, and likely resonated well with an audience only 20 years from the end of World War II, the execution is just soooooo boring.

Then there are the Quarks. Look, I get that the BBC really wanted something that was as cool and interesting and popular as the Daleks, but not owned by Terry Nation. I am baffled as to why they thought the Quarks were the best choice for this. They aren’t menacing in any way. Their voices are too “cute” and the recharge dance is laughable.

It’s a shame. With a tighter script this might have been something. But…it wasn’t.